


Fathers and Sons

by haisai_andagii



Category: DCU (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7794568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haisai_andagii/pseuds/haisai_andagii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kon finally meets an infant Jonathan Lane Kent and he's not very excited about it.  Then, Pa reminds his eldest grandson that he is an incredibly normal child of extremely unusual circumstances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fathers and Sons

**Author's Note:**

> A mishmash of preNu52 and postNu52.
> 
> Edits on 9/12/16

Their laughter trickles down from the front porch as Kon snatches another ear from the small mountain of corn he harvested that morning.  He's an expert, ripping the silk and husk from each one in a single fluid motion.  The work keeps him busy and his mind away from the chatter back at the house.  Clark and Lois arrived just after lunch and they did not come alone.  Kon clenched his teeth at the thought of the their latest intruder, as he tore off husk after after husk until his hands are nothing but a blur and his bin is full.  

"Wow!" Clark's overly cheery voice calls out to him.  Kon sighs.  He does his best to ease the annoyed expression from his face as Clark comes to greet him by the side of the barn.  "You're adapting to farm life well, Conner!"

"Sure," he replies.  His tone is terse but deserved.  There is nothing but more work that waits for Kon-El, while everyone else gets to make a fuss over that damn thing.  He tosses the last of the shucked corn into the bin before lifting it with his telekinesis and placing it aside with the others.

"Ma said you were out here," CLark continues to speak, his towering form casting a long shadow over Kon.  "We brought Jon.  You should take a break and come see him!"

"Um... I will after this..."  Kon mutters, picking at a few feathers stuck on his jeans.  "Besides, I d-don't feel like I should hold a baby.  I was literally up to my ankles in cow-pies and chicken scat like fifteen minutes ago.  So, I'll be in later after I clean up."

Clark says nothing, only shifting slightly as he pushes his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. 

"There you guys are!"

Lois appears, holding a squirming bundle.  Ma and Pa flank her and Kon's stomach sinks to his knees.  There is no escaping now.

"Hey, Lois," he says, mustering up a smile.  It's lopsided but it's there.  She smiles back - bright and wide.

"I brought Jon out to see his big cousin!"

_Cousin._

Kon's weak smile fades.  An ear of corn nearly breaks in half in his fist.

"Um, I've been working all day and I'm all dirty-"

"I don't care!" Lois insists.  "I want a picture!"  She stoops low, pressing the squirming bundle against Kon's chest.  Slowly, he wraps his arms around the baby, making sure to support its neck.

"Aren't they sweet?" the women coo, snapping photo after photo with their phones.  Pa just nods at him, giving Kon a little wink.

Irrationality courses through him like molten fire rushing through his very veins.  Kon wants to crush Jon in his arms.  He wants to dash him on the ground like an overripe pumpkin.  He wants to hurdle him so far into the sky he would never return. 

Jon gurgles, bubbles of spit forming over his cooing lips.  It is an ugly, curious sound and Kon frowns at this fat, squirming thing and sees eyes and a nose and chin just like his own.

Jon is so new.  He is so tiny.  He is all too fragile.  And even though he is only a month old, Jon suddenly feels so heavy and Kon feels like he needs all of his strength just to keep him from slipping out of his arms.

In that moment, Kon allows himself to smile and Jon smiles right back at him.  And Lois and Ma get their picture.  The women turn to giggle about their digital memento as Clark leans down and takes the baby. 

"That's my good boy," he praises, rubbing circles on Jon's onesies covered back.  "That's my son!"

Kon's head feels hot.  The world is out-of-focus.  He stands up too quickly, causing his stool teetering wildly as he marches off and inside of the barn.  He keeps moving until he finds himself in the loft, where Kon pulls off his gloves and scrubs his eyes with the heel of his hands.

Kon swallows thickly, the knot in his throat painfully tight as each new thought was more poisonous than the next.

They built him a monument instead of rebuilding the regeneration chamber.  

They were quick to fill his absence with Lor-Zod - the child of one of Superman's _other_ greatest enemies!  But this one - no! - for this one they welcomed him into their home with open arms...

And he and Lois called him their son too.  

Even his own Kryptonian name was a cruel anagram - a joke he was blissfully unaware of until Garfield carelessly pointed it out. 

It is just another in a long line of offenses Kon struggled to overlook out of Clark's supposed kindness. 

"Conner?" Pa's gravelly voice echoes in the in the barn. "You here?"

He wipes his eyes on his forearm.  Before he can reply, Pa's already up the ladder, his wizened lips fixed in a frown.  Kon keeps his head bowed.

"You ran off?"  It came out more of a comment than a question.  Either way, Kon still winces.

"I...I...uh.  I think I am just tired from using my powers all day," he half-stutters.  "I just need a minute."

"That dog won't hunt, son," Pa says firmly.  "Crying is fine.  Healthy.  But you are a young man, and if you need to cry like one and then, you need to be able to tell us why..."

"Clark loves the baby more than me!" he blurts out.  Kon's entire face goes crimson.  He sucks his teeth and tucks his face in the valley of his drawn up knees.  He exhales a few shuddering breaths, before mumbling: "And I feel like a damn ungrateful idiot for saying all of that..."

"No, you ain't," Pa says simply.  "You feel that way because you weren't never a baby - never a child, not one 'traditional' parent in your life.  You came into the world having to raise yourself, whether you liked it or not.  But you are still a child nonetheless and you're still our boy and we love you."

"But is it wrong to feel jealous?  That Jon will be Superman and I won't?"

"Now, hold on, son,"  Pa pipes up, slapping his knee.  "How do you even know that Jon will want to be Superman when he's fully grown?  And what makes you think Clark would hand it over to him just like that?  And who says there can only be one Superman?  Gotham's got thirty-two Batmans and fifty-seven Robins running around.  Ain't no one that can take that from you - not even Clark!"

"I don't think I've heard you talk this much..." Kon mutters, a small smile pulls on his lips. "Thanks."

"Life is a journey and your feelings are a compass, Conner.  Let them help you grow, guide you to the man you wanna be,"  the old man continues.  "You can always talk to us.  'Sides, because you are kin, Ma and I are thinking of leaving all of this to you..."

"What?" Kon blinks owlishly.

"Clark is a city boy now.  He had the nerve to ask for a kale smoothie?  Kale is for stewing with collard greens! Not one ounce of a corn-fed Kansan in that boy.  But you," Pa pauses, clapping Kon on his shoulder.  "You're a damn good farmer.  And hardly anyone out here to notice you coming and going when you need to play hero.  Plenty of space for that speedster friend to run around and maybe have your own family someday."

Kon is stunned.  He sits quietly next to his uncle - no - grandfather, taking in every word.  He dabs his watery eyes on his sleeve.

"I guess I have to take animal husbandry then," he mumbles, slipping his arm over Pa's shoulder.  Kon wrinkles his nose in (mostly) mock disgust.   His Pa laughs and returns the favor.

"I guess you do."

~~~

 

He dries and Clark washes.  They stand side-by-side with only the sound of sloshing water filling the awkward silence.

"I don't think Jon looks very much like me," Clark says finally, rinsing out a coffee mug.

"He's a newborn," Kon replies softly.  He stacks the clean plates in the cupboard with his telekinesis, while wiping down a glass.  "They don't look much like anything."

"Yeah, but, I meant he doesn't look like me as much as _you_ do... Well, except for that giant forehead.  That's all Lex."

"Hey!" Kon's objection is met with a splash of dish water.  He tosses his towel at Clark, who snatches out of the air.

"Jon's gonna need someone to look after him when I am not around," he says.  He looks Kon squarely in the eye as he presses the towel back into his hands. "Show him the ropes.  I am just glad he's got a big brother who will do just that."

Kon smiles.

"Sure," he returns - his indifferent tone doing little to hide his pure joy.  "NBD."

"If you two are done jawin', finish those dish!" Pa shouts his recliner in the living room.  "How's a man to read with all that going on..."

His boys chuckle, grinning ear-to-ear.

"Yes, Pa!"


End file.
